Alabama courts

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has issued an order saying the offices will be open to the public each day effective July 1.

Moore ordered the offices closed to the public on Wednesday beginning in March 2013 because he said understaffing had put the offices behind on recording and filing cases. The employees used Wednesdays to catch up. Now Moore says the backlog in paperwork has been reduced and judges have told them the offices are ready to resume a normal schedule.

Alabama's chief justice expects to lay off 150 employees after the state's new fiscal year starts Oct. 1 unless the court system gets more money than the Legislature appropriated.

Chief Justice Roy Moore says he's grateful that the General Fund signed by the governor on Monday increases the court system's appropriation by $5.6 million to $108 million for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

But he says that is $8.5 million short of what's needed to maintain the current staff.